Woman Gets Called Out By Coworker For Wearing “Barely Any Clothes”, Claps Back At Him, Wonders If She Crossed The Line
Being good at your job isn’t the only thing that helps you flourish at work. Just think about it — you have to know the ins and outs of the business, handle stressful situations, and, most of all, navigate the twists and turns of coworker relationships. But that’s easier said than done, as conflicts between colleagues are inescapable. Even the most patient people get to a boiling point, especially when they’re met with unwanted and unreasonable criticism from the people they work with.
Redditor Longjumping_Draw_864 knows this from personal experience. As the woman explained in her story on the AITA subreddit, she recently had an argument with a colleague, Brian, that made things rather uncomfortable at the office. See, while the dress code at their company is very casual, he felt bothered by her appearance.
“Today I was wearing a top with thin straps with long pants and my shoulders were showing,” the user wrote. To Brian, however, this was equivalent to “barely” having any clothes on at work. Well, this didn’t sit well with the user, so she found a way to put Brian back in his place in the best possible way. Read on to find out how the whole ordeal unfolded, decide for yourself whether the woman was right in this situation, and share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Recently, a woman shared how a coworker felt her clothes were inappropriate and told her to cover up her shoulders
Image credits: Marcus Aurelius (not the actual photo)
But apparently, it was him who looked far from professional at work
Image credits: Polina Tankilevitch (not the actual photo)
After reading the story, the vast majority of Redditors deemed the user was not in the wrong for having *cue gasps and swooning faints* shoulders! Many commenters expressed that Brian’s shaming behaviors (especially when he’s the one walking barefoot in the office) should not be tolerated, and he should learn about healthy boundaries and how to mind his own business.
But while the man’s idea of casual is more laidback than most of us prefer, it looks like pandemic life had an effect on many employees’ wardrobe choices. According to a study conducted by Captivate, North America’s leading location-based digital video network, many professionals said that every day at work now feels like a casual Friday. After surveying 501 white-collar workers, researchers revealed that many respondents started noticing more relaxed clothing as they headed back to work, like jeans, t-shirts, sportswear, and even Crocs! Moreover, executives are no exception since “35% of respondents report seeing senior executives wearing more jeans than before the pandemic.”
“We have all heard about and likely experienced first-hand the casual work-from-home wardrobe that arose during the pandemic,” Scott Marden, Captivate CMO said. “The findings highlight that the pandemic didn’t just change how we work, but what we wear to do that work. Who knows… with offices becoming more casual day-to-day, perhaps we’ll see Formal Fridays arise as the new trend.”
Unfortunately, some coworkers believe they are inclined to dress more casually than others. For example, what perplexed most readers was the double standards the woman was forced to face — her shoulders are inappropriate while Brian can breezily walk barefoot in the office? No wonder she was insulted and felt the need to stand up for herself. After all, dealing with unwanted sexist comments from people you see daily can lead to numerous emotional challenges and low self-esteem.
As Rebekah Kuschmider explained on WebMD, sexist remarks may seem benign and no-big-deal at first, but they can be very hurtful. “Speaking up when you hear something sexist can help to derail sexism. When you voice your opinion, you can help people challenge their own assumptions and biases about sex and gender. Your actions can help teach others how to effectively confront sexism. Standing up against sexism also shows victims of sexism that you will support them,” she wrote. Well, we’re glad to see the author of this story did precisely that. But what do you think about this situation? We’d love to hear your thoughts down below, as well as any similar stories you might want to share from your own experiences.
Redditors overwhelmingly sided with the user, here’s what they had to say
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It’s time to start bringing Legos to work and leave them scattered on the floor around your work area.
It’s sickens me to think that this woman thinks she is in the wrong for having*gasp* shoulders.
Excuse me? Shoulders are disgusting sex-objects and no self-respecting woman will EVER let anyone know she has them! Good, modest women will schedule shoulder removal surgery before starting a job! /s
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"At that moment, Brian was wearing pretty short shorts and was barefoot." Brian was rocking some boom boom shorts & he still had the nerve to complain about a coworker wearing a tank top? That's rich lol!
My only concern is that this important internet discussion is going to discourage more men from wearing boom boom shorts.
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Any male coworker driven to anger over his office mate's choice of attire sounds dangerous.
He goes to the office barefoot? It's disgusting and wildly unhygienic.
While it's nice to strive for a good work relationship, some of that effort needs to go both ways. Barefoot at the office? Disgusting and totally inappropriate. Guy needs to back off and put some shoes on. But I have to confess, I'm a fuddy-duddy when it come to office attire. Rule of "B": If you would wear it to bed, the beach, or a bar, you don't wear it to the office. Mind you, I'm totally breaking that rule right now, since I'm working from home and still in my pajamas.
That's a fuzzy rule, some people wear wedding dresses to the beach, and I guess I can't wear underwear at work, since I leave it on under my nightdress? And plenty people I know go from work to a bar, nobody here dresses up or down between them...
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i will bever understand this. we do have dresscode but we are allowed to show shoulders but the straps need to be at least 2cm wide. what is the difference in having a spagetti strap and having a wider strap? it makes me think men are more thrilled about the straps than the actual woman wearing them
Easier to fantasize about removing the straps. Males need to be trained to control themselves as children.
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And what happens when Brian accidentally kicks something while barefooting around the office? Like a desk corner. Or steps on a staple that just happened to be sticking up. Or steps on a caltrop that mysteriously appeared?
He provides instant office entertainment, learns a valuable lesson and can't sue as he shouldn't be doing it in the first place. All round win for his coworkers in my eyes!
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You could always be a REAL A**hole and bring up a dress code in a meeting, which would make it mandatory for him to wear shoes, since he believes that everyone should dress a certain way.
Welllll….. we wouldn’t really want him to show his shoulders either so there’s that. But then there’s also the fact those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones….
Who the f goes barefoot around the office? And on top that he has the gal to comment on other people's clothing?
Yeah, brian needs to mind his own business. I actually got mentioned on bp with a comment I made of reddit when I read that post there yesterday. Weird.
F**k him and f**k his stinky a*s feet. You didn’t say anything wrong . I would have said so much worse . NTA
Victorians would be AGHAST at him showing his ankles!!!! Nonetheless his bare feet! (how is that allowed?)
Is it really just shoulders or lack of a bra? Lack of a bra to me is beyond casual, in my opinion. But what if you go to work dressed EXACTLY like he does - short shorts and barefooted? Something tells me he would be offended by that too. It doesn’t should like he wants the scale evened out.
Well, with his booty shorts on, she can tell if he gets off on shoulders. His doink will let her know.
Would it seem appropriate if one of the guys was wearing a tank top? If so, then strappy tops are all good. If not, there's your unwritten rule.
If she has an unwritten rule about wearing spaghetti strap tops, then Brian should have a rule for showing his hairy toes and saggy man cheeks.
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They both sound like they are in violation of typical workplace dress code..but my workplace thinks its scandalous if you wear a skirt 1 in above the knee. Your workplace sounds awesome.
Sounds like this casual workplace attire has gone way too casual. Maybe a minimum standard should be put in place. At the very least shoes should be a requirement.
There is nothing wrong with showing feet and there is nothing wrong with showing shoulders.
If you're WFM anything but lingerie, that is decent should be good. We all know please who wfh so deal with it.
Both TA sure he's a jerk for his comment but first of all, don't reply with what is basically "I know you are but what am I?" This is how to escalate a situation. Secondly, his reaction was to ignore you? Good! What else do you want? How old are you people? Act like adults. If I was in charge I would just implement a business-appropriate dress code just because of this stupidity. Suck it up and get back to work! I gladly accept the incoming onslaught of downvotes
why would i care about what my colleagues wear? they dont share my faith so why should they follow my standards of clothing? i could look at them and think what i want but if there is no dresscode they could literally wear pajamas and it is their problem. dress codes are a nonsense especially if you dont face customers. funny that in the former communist countries we did not have dress codes even before in schools ( i know in the usa tgere are dresscodes) so in this area we had more freedom than the west 🤣🤷
Load More Replies...
It’s time to start bringing Legos to work and leave them scattered on the floor around your work area.
It’s sickens me to think that this woman thinks she is in the wrong for having*gasp* shoulders.
Excuse me? Shoulders are disgusting sex-objects and no self-respecting woman will EVER let anyone know she has them! Good, modest women will schedule shoulder removal surgery before starting a job! /s
Load More Replies... "At that moment, Brian was wearing pretty short shorts and was barefoot." Brian was rocking some boom boom shorts & he still had the nerve to complain about a coworker wearing a tank top? That's rich lol!
My only concern is that this important internet discussion is going to discourage more men from wearing boom boom shorts.
Load More Replies... Any male coworker driven to anger over his office mate's choice of attire sounds dangerous.
He goes to the office barefoot? It's disgusting and wildly unhygienic.
While it's nice to strive for a good work relationship, some of that effort needs to go both ways. Barefoot at the office? Disgusting and totally inappropriate. Guy needs to back off and put some shoes on. But I have to confess, I'm a fuddy-duddy when it come to office attire. Rule of "B": If you would wear it to bed, the beach, or a bar, you don't wear it to the office. Mind you, I'm totally breaking that rule right now, since I'm working from home and still in my pajamas.
That's a fuzzy rule, some people wear wedding dresses to the beach, and I guess I can't wear underwear at work, since I leave it on under my nightdress? And plenty people I know go from work to a bar, nobody here dresses up or down between them...
Load More Replies... i will bever understand this. we do have dresscode but we are allowed to show shoulders but the straps need to be at least 2cm wide. what is the difference in having a spagetti strap and having a wider strap? it makes me think men are more thrilled about the straps than the actual woman wearing them
Easier to fantasize about removing the straps. Males need to be trained to control themselves as children.
Load More Replies... And what happens when Brian accidentally kicks something while barefooting around the office? Like a desk corner. Or steps on a staple that just happened to be sticking up. Or steps on a caltrop that mysteriously appeared?
He provides instant office entertainment, learns a valuable lesson and can't sue as he shouldn't be doing it in the first place. All round win for his coworkers in my eyes!
Load More Replies... You could always be a REAL A**hole and bring up a dress code in a meeting, which would make it mandatory for him to wear shoes, since he believes that everyone should dress a certain way.
Welllll….. we wouldn’t really want him to show his shoulders either so there’s that. But then there’s also the fact those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones….
Who the f goes barefoot around the office? And on top that he has the gal to comment on other people's clothing?
Yeah, brian needs to mind his own business. I actually got mentioned on bp with a comment I made of reddit when I read that post there yesterday. Weird.
F**k him and f**k his stinky a*s feet. You didn’t say anything wrong . I would have said so much worse . NTA
Victorians would be AGHAST at him showing his ankles!!!! Nonetheless his bare feet! (how is that allowed?)
Is it really just shoulders or lack of a bra? Lack of a bra to me is beyond casual, in my opinion. But what if you go to work dressed EXACTLY like he does - short shorts and barefooted? Something tells me he would be offended by that too. It doesn’t should like he wants the scale evened out.
Well, with his booty shorts on, she can tell if he gets off on shoulders. His doink will let her know.
Would it seem appropriate if one of the guys was wearing a tank top? If so, then strappy tops are all good. If not, there's your unwritten rule.
If she has an unwritten rule about wearing spaghetti strap tops, then Brian should have a rule for showing his hairy toes and saggy man cheeks.
Load More Replies... They both sound like they are in violation of typical workplace dress code..but my workplace thinks its scandalous if you wear a skirt 1 in above the knee. Your workplace sounds awesome.
Sounds like this casual workplace attire has gone way too casual. Maybe a minimum standard should be put in place. At the very least shoes should be a requirement.
There is nothing wrong with showing feet and there is nothing wrong with showing shoulders.
If you're WFM anything but lingerie, that is decent should be good. We all know please who wfh so deal with it.
Both TA sure he's a jerk for his comment but first of all, don't reply with what is basically "I know you are but what am I?" This is how to escalate a situation. Secondly, his reaction was to ignore you? Good! What else do you want? How old are you people? Act like adults. If I was in charge I would just implement a business-appropriate dress code just because of this stupidity. Suck it up and get back to work! I gladly accept the incoming onslaught of downvotes
why would i care about what my colleagues wear? they dont share my faith so why should they follow my standards of clothing? i could look at them and think what i want but if there is no dresscode they could literally wear pajamas and it is their problem. dress codes are a nonsense especially if you dont face customers. funny that in the former communist countries we did not have dress codes even before in schools ( i know in the usa tgere are dresscodes) so in this area we had more freedom than the west 🤣🤷
Load More Replies... 
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